Vietnam veterans defend plan to add helicopter to memorial

Thursday

Local Vietnam veterans were shocked to hear fellow veteran Robert L. Platukis question the safety of their preliminary plan to add a Vietnam War-era attack helicopter to Veterans Memorial Corridor.

Mr. Platukis, chairman of the Veterans Memorial Corridor Advisory Committee, told selectmen last week that he questioned the cost of a foundation and said the helicopter could be contaminated with Agent Orange if it had been in Vietnam; he also said it could distract passing drivers.

Francis J. Bujnowski, chairman of the Helicopter Committee for Vietnam Veterans Association No. 554 of Auburn, said his committee has been working to find a safe and appropriate location for the helicopter, which he refers to as “the ship,” for several years.

“It’s hard for anyone who wasn’t there in Vietnam to understand. When you saw that ship, you knew your chances of going home went way up. Those ships were our guardian angels,” he said.

Association president Lawrence J. Corbin III, local veterans agent, said, “The guys who served in Vietnam recognize that helicopter. One said it saved his life.”

The helicopter, a surplus AH-1 Huey Cobra Gunship, was procured from Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee by the veterans association on Nov. 14, 1996, according to papers signed by former VVA member Dennis Campbell. After a brief stay in Leicester, the helicopter has been stored behind a fence at the Chester P. Tuttle Post American Legion at 88 Bancroft St.

Mr. Bujnowski said the original plan was “to mount it on a trailer and put it into parades.” That plan was dropped because of safety concerns about maneuvering the helicopter’s 52-foot frame.

The committee considered placing the helicopter at the post or at Green Hill Park in Worcester as part of the state Vietnam War memorial, but fears of vandalism ended that plan.

A memorial to PFC David P. Kusy, the first local soldier to give his life in Vietnam, is at Church and Southbridge streets, “but there is no mention of other Vietnam veterans,” Mr. Bujnowski said, though Mr. Corbin said the monument is dedicated to all Vietnam veterans.

Mr. Corbin said the Helicopter Committee plans to propose putting the helicopter, “tipped like it was in flight,” on a column that will rise 10 feet above the existing earth mound at Kusy park. A plaque at the base would recognize the service of all Vietnam veterans, according to John P. Doherty, a member of the Chester P. Tuttle Post.

Mr. Bujnowski said that over the past several years, he and fellow committee members have met with town officials, sought support from local veterans, had preliminary discussions with the Veterans Memorial Corridor Committee, had engineering blueprints made and spoken with representatives of other communities that have erected similar helicopter monuments.

“We are in the process of answering questions about engineering, donations, liability, vandalism and maintenance. We are moving forward slowly, carefully and thoughtfully. It is premature to bring our plan before selectmen, though we hope to get the helicopter up by Memorial Day 2011.”

Mr. Bujnowski said he was shocked to hear Mr. Platukis question the safety of the helicopter. “It was never in Vietnam. There is no Agent Orange. We have always been careful about the ship’s safety.”

During his 20 months of service in Vietnam, Mr. Bujnowski served as a “pathfinder,” whose job was to “to go in the night before or on the first ship and run forward air control.”

“I saw the first Hueys arrive in Bien Hoa Vietnam in 1967. They were beautiful, state-of-the-art. I have movie film of it. They were flown in by civilian pilots, and had Playboy bunnies painted on the tail.”

He said he hoped to see the local helicopter cleaned and painted to look like new. “We’ve been in touch with the Air National Guard about assembling the rotors, removing the engine and putting it up safely.”

Mr. Corbin said some delays have been unavoidable. “The Guard team that was going to help us put it together was deployed. There will be no live ammo, no engine, no fluids, no poisons.”

Mr. Bujnowski said, “Other war veterans have their cannons, mortars and anti-aircraft guns. We are counting on this ship to represent our era.”

Mr. Platukis said Tuesday that a proposal to include the helicopter in Veterans Memorial Corridor was originally brought to the corridor committee “several years ago, but our adviser, VVA member Paul A. Pulkkinen, who since has passed on, said we had no right to the helicopter. We took it off the agenda and never discussed it after that.”

Mr. Platukis said he still has concerns about the safety of the helicopter. “It belonged to the U.S. Army. What was it used for? And what about the high cost of a base? We have no funds.”

“We’ve always been willing to listen,” he added.

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